MOJO&MUSE: A Performance Speakeasy

Join us for an exciting night of community and art in the beautiful space of Watershed Art & Ecology. The MOJO&MUSE speakeasy will present an evening of special performances of dance, video, poetry, music, and more! Live entertainment and light refreshments will be provided.

ARTISTS:

Kao Ra Zen is a Chicago-based rapper, spoken word poet, multimedia performance artist, video director, recording engineer, curator, photographer, and educator. Kao has performed and/or curated at venues such as the Museum of Contemporary Art, Symphony Center, DANK-Haus, Elastic Arts, Constellation, Alhambra Palace, Oliva Gallery, and Steppenwolf Theatre in Chicago; in addition to performances and screenings in New York; Berlin, Germany; and turku, Finland. Kao earned his Associate in Fine Arts degree from Harold Washington College and then earned his BFA from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

Much of Kao's written, musical, and performance work addresses historical and contemporary societal concerns, existential matters, and promotes self expression, fostering community, and challenging oppressive systems and intolerant perspectives.

Marisela-Raymi Dalila Tapia is a Peruvian-American dance theater artist with a rich background in exploring the intersections of art, language, culture, and identity. With 15 years of experience in studying, performing, and teaching dance, Marisela has left her artistic mark in cities like Chicago, New York, New México, Perú, Spain, and Italy.

Her artistic journey began at Columbia College Chicago, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in Visual Arts in 2014. Marisela later obtained a master’s degree in Linguistics Applied to Spanish as a Foreign Language from the University of Nebrija in Madrid, Spain. With over four years of teaching experience in both English and Spanish, Marisela has served as a North American Language Cultural ambassador and has taught language classes online.

In the realm of dance, Marisela has received training from master flamenco artists in Spain and has showcased her talents in various international performances. Notable achievements include winning first place at the Flamenco certamen through the Carlota Santana dance company at Lincoln Center in 2015 and headlining and directing performances in top Chicago venues. Her collaborations with renowned organizations, such as Clinard Dance Theater in Chicago, have led to performances at prestigious venues like the Logan Center for the Performing Arts at the University of Chicago.

Marisela's dance repertoire extends beyond flamenco, encompassing ballet, modern dance, salsa, and traditional Latin and Peruvian folkloric dances. She maintains a strong connection with her cultural heritage, evident in her participation in traditional Peruvian folklore performances.

Mark Nagy and Neil Jendon have been working in the electroacoustic medium as a duo since 2017. Collectively known as Legendary Ninja Monk, they have been exploring and recording the graphic score Treatise by Cornelius Cardew. This epic graphic score is 193 pages long. This extensive structural investigation has fostered in depth explorations of timbral densities, temporal manipulations, as well as the investigations of regenerative textures. Legendary Ninja Monk music ranges from introspective musings to capricious romps.

Christophe Preissing is a sound composer, intermedia artist, improvisor, producer, and creative instigator whose work engages the contradictions of liminality, memory and decay, perception and projection, and preservation and loss. He uses archives, mapping, and taxonomies to produce clouds of meaning to engage participants. His work—both intentional and indeterminate—relies on paradox and ambiguity, found and built objects, individual and embodied memory, and the happy accident. cpreissing.bandcamp.com

Lucia Peters aka Forstreuter is a seasoned dance artist with 15 years of experience, having performed at prestigious events such as the Bauhaus Museum Dessau's opening, attended by Angela Merkel, and in front of 12,000 spectators at the Mercedes-Benz Arena Berlin apart from having worked for the state theatre Rostock, Germany and touring with dance company "haptip hide" by Paula Rosolen. She holds a diploma in dance (2009) and an MA in choreography (2020) from Palucca University of Dance in Dresden. Her choreographic works have been featured at the American Dance Festival and HELLERAU European Center for the Arts. Lucia is also the co-founder of the collectives "t.error&delicious//Lucia+guests", and "LIVALUCIA" which showcases performances in theatres, galleries, and public spaces. Trained in the Dance Education Laboratory (DEL) method from New York City, she has applied this approach to bring dance education to public schools in Germany and has collaborated with NGOs like "I AM YOU" to develop dance practices for refugees. Her dedication has earned her multiple scholarships, including the Palucca and Esther-Arnhold-Seligmann Scholarships, the latter of which supported her participation in the American Dance Festival.

Me’Chelle (She/Her) is a mother, spoken word poet, musician and teaching artist. She is driven by a passion to entertain, enlighten, and inspire positive change in her community. Her poem “Lumiere” was recently featured at the Lumiere Gala for MSV Chicago (Spring 2023). Her poem “Dark Haunts” was featured in Bone Bouquet magazine (Winter 2020). She works as an instructor of the Marillac rap & poetry program through After School Matters.

Me’Chelle is a genuine soul, with an ambitious nature and passion for mentorship. She works to change many lives for the better within her lifespan.

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